


Anxious Nightmare

by Toreen



Category: Fanders, Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders
Genre: Blood, Death, Lots of Crying, M/M, Not so happy end, Nudity, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 09:09:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13948377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toreen/pseuds/Toreen
Summary: Virgil's behaviour is off, making him do things no one would have imagined him to do. He's truly stuck in his nightmare, but eventually, able to get out again.Something I wrote on tumblr and finally finished!Many decisions in this are caused through votes from other people in polls that I put up!





	1. Breathless

**Author's Note:**

> Oh holy cow, I didn’t expect BLUE to win, but welp, it did!  
> Anyone who’s interested, this question (and what is going to happen in this part) is based on the japanese “Aka Manto” Urban Legend. I’d suggest to look it up AFTER reading this here, or else you might get spoiled.
> 
> Warnings: Major Character Death, nudity, angst  
> This is only the beginning and “light”. If you can’t deal with any of this, then I suggest not to read it. Throughout the story, blood will be spilled (In future parts).
> 
> Word count: 1027

What a nice, long day. Roman had spent his time in his personal room, enjoying walks in his Kingdom and defeating yet another enemy that has threatened his peace. The day was so long and exhausting, that he decided to end it with a hot bath.  
Everything was perfect.  
The tub was prepared, Roman undressed and ready to step in and oh, the lovely scent of roses and peaches filled the room. Taking a quick look into the mirror, the Prince grinned.  
“A fight and I didn’t have to endure any harm…those fights start getting too easy!”Slowly and with a low, shivering groan, he settled himself into the hot water, relaxing almost immediately.

A knock on the door prevented him from falling asleep. Princy kept his eyes closed and hummed quietly, a sign that, whoever was there, was allowed to step in. Why should it bother him if one of the others see him like this? He looked perfect, so there truly was no shame in showing the others! Also, they knew what he looked like anyways. And something made him feel confident that his boyfriends surely would not mind seeing him like this as well. Not a bit.

The door opened quietly and Roman finally decided to open his eyes.  
“Virgil-! What a surprise! You look a bit…different, is everything okay?”  
Virgil stood there, his skin tone more grey than white and his make-up looking more messy than ever, running over his cheeks down to the jaw.   
  
“Nah, ’m fine, tweety. Mind if I join you?”  
There was a hint of a chuckle in his voice and a slick smirk on his lips. Not even waiting for an answer, Virgil already began to undress. He must have been certain to know the answer.

“I…yes? I certainly would not mind, but why so suddenly? You are acting…strange?”  
  
“Just had a good day, that’s all. Also, I want to take a bath but I’m not really patient enough to wait until you’re done. We all know how long you need, Shining Armor.”  
His last words sounded almost like a soft hiss and sharp as a knife. Something felt off, really off. But maybe, yes,  _maybe_  he really just had a good day and decided to open up a bit. That was a good sign, right? It had to be!  
Roman’s cheeks blushed more than they already did from the hot water, as Virge stepped into the tub, just to settle himself down onto the other ones thighs, putting his hands onto his shoulders. Just good that the tub was big enough for them, otherwise the bathroom would have been flooded by now.  
Taking a closer look, Roman realized a big scar running over Anxieties chest. That never has been there before, he was sure about that. Or maybe he just never paid attention to it.

“Geez, Virgil-”, a shiver ran through his body, giving him goosebumps,”I’m used to your skin being cold, but this? You are freezing, darling!”  
  
There was a soft sigh, then a quiet hum, while Virge traced his fingers slowly his boyfriends collarbones, causing him to shiver up once more.  
“Hmh, don’t worry. I’m just fine~”  
Slowly, he ran his hands up to his shoulders, putting them firmly there.  
“Hey, Roman. Up for a game?”  
  
All of that began to feel more and more off, suspicious…just not right. But the Prince nodded, hesitatingly.  
“Yes, of course! What would you like to play? I don’t think the bathtub offers a lot of possi-”  
  
“Sh”, Virgil hushed him with a quick, icy kiss,”Would you like the red or the blue paper?”  
  
“I…excuse me?”  
  
“Just answer me, Princy”, it sounded more like a demand than a request.   
Again, odd.  
“Red or Blue?”  
The seed of fear in Roman’s heart cracked open, ice cold fright rushing through his veins.This question sounded familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it. Usually he would have gone for red, obviously. But that’s what Virgil would have expected, right? 

“Blue. I go with blue…so, what is this all about?”  
  
The sudden, low chuckle from Virgil made him flinch and his heartbeat almost twice as fast.  
“Just close your eyes, okay? Can you do that for me?”  
His voice suddenly was calm and quiet, but oh so bittersweet cold. It felt unsettling, almost terrifying. But the Prince obeyed, slowly closing his eyes. Virgil moved a bit and got more up, so that he stood above the Royal, before grabbing him by his shoulders once more. And then, then he pushed him down into the tub, until his head got covered by the water as well. Laughter echoed through the bathroom, Virgil keeping him down with such a strength, that it was unbelievable. When did Anxiety get so strong? Why would he do such a thing? Of course, Roman began to struggle, tried to grab his wrists to pull them away, tried to kick him back. But nothing worked, not even in the slightest. It only got worse and more pressure got put onto him, until he began to feel dizzy. His sight flickered and got hazy.  
Roman wanted to scream, to beg for his love to stop, so get answers.   
So many thought rushed through his mind.  
  
Several more minutes passed, after Princy passed out. Virgil kept him down, just to be sure that he was gone, dead.

Knowing that he was finally gone, felt so good, he even ignored the skin on his cheeks cracking.  
  
That was the most satisfying thing he had ever done so far.

±

Black vines and ribbons wrapped themselves around the bed and through the room, blocking the door, just to make sure that no one would be able to get in.

Virgil laid on his bed, curled up in a tight ball as he shivered and trembled, his nightmares growing stronger, clutching his hurting chest. It felt like someone cut him deep. He wanted to wake up so badly, just to get out of this. But he couldn’t, he wasn’t able to. No matter how much he begged, he didn’t wake up.

The vines slowly found their way closer to Virgil, ribbons tugging on his throat.


	2. Pop Quiz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan got the feeling that something isn't right

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoh boy! All right, here’s part 2! I didn’t expect so many people to vote for messy? Though messy and clean had a good fight.   
> Anyways!!
> 
> Warnings: Blood, burns, torture, major character death, bit of a body horror. Please do not read this if you have a problem with any of these, thank you.
> 
> Word count: 2055 (lmao the last one was 1027. So this is ONE WORD above the double xD)

Even though there was a corpse in the bathtub, Virgil didn’t care for about ten more minutes. The feeling of the hot water on his skin felt too nice to just let it go so soon. Huh, maybe he shouldn’t have killed Roman so soon? It didn’t matter anymore at that point. He was dead.  
After stepping out of the tub, he grabbed a towel and dries himself quickly up, looking into the mirror. The scar broke open and some dark, gooey liquid spilled out of it, drying up in a matter of seconds. Dry, it looked almost like the black streaks underneath his eyes, running down to his jaw.  
Rubbing them away didn’t work, so they had to stay. Inconvenient, but surely it would not stop him from his deed. Deeds should not be left undone.

“Do it, no matter if you do it badly. If you have a schedule, follow it as best as possible, even if you’re not on time a hundred percent.”  
That’s something that Logan would say often lately, so why not listen to him for once? To make him proud.

The little Nightmare locked the bathroom door from the inside, just to make sure that no one would come in too soon, put back on his clothes with a snap of his fingers and sunk out of the room, into the hallway. Now, to the next one. 

±

Logan didn’t look up from his notebook, acknowledging the knock on his bedroom door with a:“The door is open, come in.”  
A pair of arms wrapped around his chest suddenly and he looked up finally, clearing his throat.  
“Virgil-…how are you today? You’ve been quite silent the past two days. Are you feeling better?”  
The low hum of approval in his ear made him jerk his head to the side. Logan took Virgil’s hands,  _they’re colder than usual_ , and pushed them gently away.   
“If you would please not do this? I am trying to concentrate on my work.”

“Uh-Huh. You’re tired though, take a break.”  
  
“Virgil, I do not need to-”  
  
“No, really. You got big, fat, dark circles under your eyes. Logan, you need rest. I have to make sure that you’re okay.”  
  
“But-”  
  
“Logan. Please? Part of my work is to make sure you stay fit and take care of yourself. Also is worrying for one of my boyfriends something you would judge and disobey to?”  
The tone of his voice suddenly got soft and almost begging, yet something felt off about it. The anxious side snapped his fingers, Logan suddenly wearing a grey shirt and pajama pants.  
“What did-”  
  
“Hey, you guys ain’t the only ones who can conjure stuff up and make others wear things they don’t want to, don’t forget that. Bed, now. Come on.”  
  
Defeated, Logan sighed and got up, taking his glasses off to put them down onto the desk. As soon as his body hit the mattress, a wave of exhaustion ran over him and within a few seconds, he fell asleep.

±

If he had been sleeping for just a few minutes or for hours, didn’t matter. What did matter though, was that his hands were tied to the bed. The first sign to indicate that, was that his wrists felt a bit squeezed and sore. Second was him being unable to part his wrists. Third, the feeling of cloth rubbing over his skin. Fourth, tilting his head back and looking up, he could clearly see what was going on. There still was a question left on his mind:”Why and how?”  
You could argue that those are two questions but one question answered would eventually explain the other as well.There had to be an explanation, at least. And Logan was trying to put the pieces together. The first person in question suddenly appeared in the room, sitting down on the bed right next to Logan.

“How are you feeling?”  
  
“Anxi-..Virgil. What is this? Did you do this to me?”  
Silence.  
“Did you influence me to make me tired so that I’d fall asleep?!”  
  
The cold, slick grin gave Logic a tiny heart attack, trying to breathe calmly as Virge shifted to sit down on his lap.  
“Don’t worry, Lo. I just want to play a bit, all right?”  
The door clicked as it locked itself, which made Logan tense up and flinch out of surprise. His lamp began to flicker, before the light turned off, several candles appearing in the room. That wasn’t something new to him, Virgil enjoyed to do that. To manipulate Logan’s room to his will to make the atmosphere more calm. But this time, it didn’t give the room the usual, calming feeling. Instead, it was unsettling, almost like in a horror movie. 

“Virgil what are you-”  
  
“Shhh~ Lo, it’ll be fine, okay? Just close your eyes. Let me be in control this time, okay? Let the brain let loose and the emotions take over for once, hm?”  
  
“I don’t think I want that to-”  
  
The darker sighed groaned quietly and rolled his eyes, suddenly holding a tie in his hand to blindfold Logan with it. Surely, it made Logan shut up, since it caught him by surprise.  
“Not the best option, but you know. It’ll work. Now Mr. Logic. I need you to answer me a question.”  
  
With a slight tremble, Logan nodded slowly, not answering verbally. He didn’t quite get why, but his heart began to race, making him feel even more nervous than before. Being influenced by one of the others was normal, that happened on a regular basis. But it felt like Virgil had more control than usually, like he was something or someone else. And those darker lines and cracks and his skin-  
“You’re not-”  
  
A freezing cold hand over his mouth stopped his words and made him keep his words to himself. Anxiety was sure that, if he’d take off the blindfold, Logan looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a car.

“I’m talking now, Logan. Just answer me. See it as a…pop quiz.”  
  
Logan really didn’t want to participate and he was worried about the consequences, if he’d be wrong.

“Messy or clean?”  
Slowly, he pulled his hand away again, so that Logan could answer.  
  
“What?”  
  
“Answer.”  
  
“Virgil.”  
  
“ **Answer**. Or I will decide for you. And I’m not sure if you like my decision.”  
  
“…messy.”  
  
“Messy it is, then.”

Logan opened his mouth to say more, but something soft got pushed into his mouth, between his lips and teeth. A towel, to muffle him. More panic began to light up inside of him, running from his stomach up to his chest, feeling so hot that it burnt.Something cold ran over his left arm, up to his wrist, giving him goosebumps despite of the uncomfortable heat in his chest. Then, slowly, it ran down over the side of his wrist and his arm, leaving a trail of pain and blood behind. Either it was a knife or a scalpel. Or something else that was sharp enough to cut him.

The muffled hisses coming from him satisfied Virgil.  
  
“No, question number two…Do you love me? Just nod or shake your head.”  
  
What kind of question was that? Why would he do such a thing and then ask him this? Was that supposed to be a prank?  
Even though his arm was in pain and his chest felt tight, Logan nodded slowly.

“Liar, or…let’s say it in your words. Falsehood, Lo. Lies are bad, you know that right?”  
  
Liar? How dare he-   
Logan  _ **did**_  love him. He really did, just as much as he loved Patton and Roman, just as much as Patton and Roman loved Virgil too. So why would he call him a liar?  
Virgil slowly ran the scalpel, Logan was sure that it had to be a scalpel by now, through his skin and meat again, this time on the other side of his left arm, cutting deeper than the last time.The blood ran down to his elbow, just to drip off and onto the bed sheets.  
“You’re getting messy, Logan. Do you like it messy?”  
Logan shivered, not reacting as tears began to stain the tie around his eyes, his cheeks getting wet.  
“Logan. Answer.”  
Virgil’s voice sounded more forceful, demanding. Cold like he’s ready to cut his throat open anytime without hesitation. A shake of his head was more than enough to satisfy the question.

  
“Good boy̶̫̮͙̞̓͋́̈́. Gold Star for you, very good j̵͎͖̞̟͒͌͐͝o̶̧̜͖̬̓̾̀͑b̸̠̭̥͙̈́͛̈́̈́~”

  
Distortion creeped into the low voice and snapped Logan back into thinking, forcing himself to ignore the pain. That wasn’t Virgil, it couldn’t have been. It might have sounded and looked (though “looked” wasn’t accurate anymore as well) like him, but there were too many indicators that this right there, was not Virgil. Logan began to struggle and tried to push the towel out of his mouth, so that he’d be able to make noise and alarm Patton or Roman or-  
That only lead to “Virgil” (or whoever he was) to push the towel further in, with more force and a low growl escaping his throat.  
“You better don’t.”  
It was quick and unexpected, so Logan didn’t even realize the cut on his cheek until there was blood  running. The lack of a flinch or a noise surprised tickled a little cackle out of Virge.  
“Next question.”

He moved and shifted, reaching out to grab one of the candles to hold the object of torture in the flame. His eyes were focused on the flame while he hummed quietly, before clicking his tongue.  
“Am I Virgil?”  
  
It didn’t even take Logan a second to answer, shaking his head no. He couldn’t be, that was impossible. Virgil would never-  
  
“Wrong.”  
  
There was a snapping sound and Logan felt his shirt disappear, then a sharp, hot pain in his chest. God, he wanted to scream and yell, push the other side off of himself and lecture him, show him how wrong his actions were. But he couldn’t, not only because of the towel, but also because his throat felt like something was stuck in it, tight. His chest began to heave, his breath picking up on speed, even though Logan felt heavy and almost unable to breathe.  
As if pushing the scalpel in wasn’t enough, it slowly got dragged up, further and further until it reached his collarbone.

No more questions, no more talking. All that was happening were more cuts on his chest, on his stomach, his arms, his face, sides, all over his body. It went on like this for what felt like an eternity. In between, Virgil let some hot candle wax drip onto the wounds or held the flame directly against an uncut spot. Tears mixed themselves with the blood on Logan’s face, making the wounds burn even more.   
  
It stopped, for a few moments, Virgil looking at the bloody mess underneath him.  
  
“Last question for today, Lo. Then we’re done. Then you can go. Then you can wake up and realize that it’s all just a nightmare, okay?”  
The voice was so soft and reassuring out of a sudden, quiet and calm. It actually did spark some hope in Logan. The last piece of hope that he had left at that point.  
“Ready for it?”  
Something small lightly landed on Logan’s chest as he nodded. Blindfold and towel both got taken off of him, Virgil looking more grey, more cracks running down over his own neck. A piece of his flesh was missing (which, as Logan realized, also was what landed on his chest) and quickly regenerated. A horrible sight, pure nightmare fuel.  
“Logan. Do you want this to be over?”  
  
“Is that a trick question-?”, the man’s voice broke in between, sounding weak.

“Just answer?”  
  
For the last time he obeyed and nodded, before his boyfriends face turned into a dark, grim smirk. No more chances, no more questions, Virgil was right.   
What Logan didn’t expect (or did he? There was too much on his mind.) was, that he’d end up with the scalpel cutting open his throat.

±

One of the sharp, thick vines wrapped itself harder and tighter around Virgil, cutting through the fabric of his clothes and his skin.

The pain though, still didn’t wake him up.


	3. Breakdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton seems to be the light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoh boy. I gotta admit, that was a bit hard for me to write (since I did NOT expect you guys to go with that choice so I didn’t think a lot about it before), so it’s a bit all over the place, sorry! I also tried to play with my style a little bit.  
> I still hope that you enjoy it!  
> There will be one last part, in which everything will get a proper explanation (maybe. Depends on your votes, like always :) )
> 
> It’s not as long as the last chapter though.
> 
> Word count: 1443
> 
> Warnings: Choking, death mention, lots of crying

Patton spent his whole day downstairs, cleaning the kitchen, the commons, the hallway and with preparing the dinner. After that was done exhaustion kicked his shins and he decided to take a break. So he threw himself onto the couch in the living room, turning slowly onto his side and taking in the silence.

Silence-…that was weird.  
Usually someone would make noise, anyone. No matter if it was Princey singing along to his favorite Disney Songs or loudly and triumphantly telling one of the others about his adventures as they patch him up. And if that was not the case, then there would be noise of Virgil’s music blasting through his door and the commons. Or one of them discussing (just good that their discussions rarely turned into fights anymore) about something, maybe a new video idea or a misunderstanding.

But complete silence, just as it was at that moment? Rare. Really rare. And it began to worry Patton. From time to time he did hear little things, for example how Roman left his room upstairs to take a bath, how Virgil came back home, ignoring everything around him to take the stairs. Then, it was quiet once more. So quiet, so silent.The silence per se wasn’t the most worrying part. The way the atmosphere felt calm, so calm, almost soothing-   
Patton felt so tired, so beat from cleaning all day. So exhausted from the lack of sleep from the prior night. With that, his eyes closed, leaving him asleep.

When Morality woke up, it was as quiet as before, the room painted in dim, soft nuances of orange and yellow, due to the sun disappearing behind the horizon. Just as he sat up, Virgil came downstairs, hood draped over his head. Patton didn’t get to say a word, before the small Nightmare stepped closer, wrapping his arms around him, hiding his face at his neck.

“Virgil” didn’t plan on this, but as soon as he saw the soft significant other he had this urge to hug him. To apologize for the things he had done, even though it was impossible for Patton to know about any of that. It felt like something took over him, forcing him to hug him and to take in his scent, before he’d finish his job.

±

The vines stopped moving, restrained by the ribbons wrapped around them in an attempt to pull them back. Whatever it was that made the ribbons work against the vines, it worked.

±  
  
„Hey there, kiddo. You okay?“  
Patton’s voice was soft, still drenched in a sleepy tone.  
„Something feels off, what’s going on, hm?“  
Goosebumps covered him, long, cold fingers brushing under his shirt and over his sides, up to his chest, rubbing lightly over and then between his ribs, sometimes scratching lightly, forcing soft giggles out of Patton. It wasn’t right.   
„Now that’s just weird, buddy. Are you in a tickling mood?“  
Virgil’s eyes peaked at him, mustering Patton’s face. Those giggles and smiles made the little nightmare feel like this as well. But it was wrong. There was a deed. A task he yet had to complete.  
A mission. Stopping now would be fatal, a grave mistake. One of them had to die. And the one had to be Patton, no matter what. The little Nightmare could not allow himself to fail this.

±

One by one the thick, thorned vines began to turn to dust as the ribbons grew stronger.

±

Patton kept giggling and smiling, unaware of the other boys intentions as he kept touching over his sides and ribs in search for a weak spot. Where would it be best to push a knife into? Or maybe a fork? That would be more fun, right? That would-  
Another chuckle hit his ears.  
It was hard to hold back and without thinking, Virgil began tickling him, loud laughter filling the living room as the Dad persona squirmed underneath him, his face red. 

A smile, a soft, genuine smile ran over Virgil’s face, some of the cracks closing up again. Until he stopped and Patton’s laughter faded, turning into breathless gasps and tiny giggles. It was like a flip switched in Virgil’s head, making him snap back to his actual task again. Something cold and gooey hit Patton’s cheek and he blinked, opening his eyes to look back up again, up at Virgil who was looming above, skin ash gray and cracked. That cold, gooey stuff ran out of the many cracks on the Nightmare’s face.

±

One vine though was left behind.  
The one wrapped tightly around Virgil stood, digging it’s thorns deeper into his skin and flesh, breaking the wound on his chest open again, before pushing further through.

±

A slap or maybe a scream, something. Virgil expected something to happen. Anything from Patton, a reaction. Something more than the shocked expression on his face and the surprised gasp. But there was nothing. Nothing bad, nothing…negative. And Patton being so calm made Virge…mad. Mad, because he couldn’t  _really_  get mad. But at the same time, the Nightmare couldn’t grin or smile about it, couldn’t enjoy it. All he felt at that moment, was the storm in his chest calming down, pain following as his shirt began to stick to his skin, to the wound over his heart. His missing heart.

Filled with something that almost felt like agony, he was still waiting for Patton to do something, unable to move, breath stuck…  
Soft, warm hands on his face were the last thing he’d expected. And oh, the warmth felt so good, so nice. Melting, Virgil felt like melting into the touch. To give in and let go.

“Why?”  
Tar black tears rolled over his cheeks and Patton’s already sticky fingers.

±

It kept pulling, tugging, trying to get something out of his chest.

±

Bony, long fingers wrapped around Patton’s throat, squeezing his neck, while Virgil kept yelling, screaming and crying, asking how he dared to be so kind, so nice, so calm, so-

so filled with love.

At this point, both were crying, one smiling the other one filled with rage.

Dizzy, hazy- _breathless_ \- Patton couldn’t breath, he couldn’t, he knew. Even if he’d try it wouldn’t work. How should it? Maybe a miracle? No. The only miracle would be one, he’d have to cause himself.  
  
 _Keep smiling, for him. Keep smiling, show your love. It’s not real. A dream, a dream, nothing but a dream._

_±  
  
_ __**Virgil wake up-  
Wake up-!**

**_Open the door! Open the door, wake up!_ **

±

Finally, he could breath again, gasping for air while choking on his own tears. Virgil gave up. But with that more of him broke, more skin fell off, turned to dust, regenerated. Pain, dust, repeat. And with each time his chest began to heave, pain rushing through his whole body.All in all, he was a sobbing mess, mumbling apologies, before asking questions and then turning back to the apologies again, then punching the couch right next to Patton, urging to kill him. To choke him to death finally or to stab him. To break his neck, his bones one by one.  
Then guilt washed over him once more. Each time his skin regenerated, it lost more of it’s grey-ish tone, which was obviously visible after the first few times, even though there was that black stuff still covering him.

Guilt, regret…

 

 _Anxiety_ came back through again.

 

And it surely wouldn’t stop trying to take over completely once more.

±

It was pulling on his heart, trying to rip it out. To get rid of it before the vine could break. It was the last one remaining and it didn’t want to leave. There was nothing the ribbons could do.

±

“Because I love you, honey. The real you. Wake up-”

“I can’t-”, it was less talking and more like a croak, strained and filled with pain.  
  
“Wake up, Virgil. For me, for us. For yourself. This is over, stop the nightmare, stop yourself. This is not you. Stop it, it’s okay. Deep breaths, stay calm. I love you, we all do. And I know that you love us just as much.”

With those words, Virgil fell apart, breaking completely. A loud scream, which broke somewhere in between, filled the commons, leaving Patton alone with dust and ashes covering him.

The nightmare was finally gone.

 

 

Virgil’s eyes snapped back open, heavy knocks on his door, followed by begging voices to let them in, to let them safe him. Just as he was about to turn to look at the door, the pain of the vine hit him fully.


	4. Solution (Final)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...but is it really?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh jesus fuck guys thank you so much. Those two messages (one a reply to my post another one a message in my asks) motivated me a lot, actually. Thank you so so so much void and @dragonfire2000!!  
> The end is uuh..your fault. Your votes lead to this okay? Okay. Cool.  
> ….  
> I won’t say anything okay? Okay. To be honest, the end could leave room for a sequel OR a prequel but idk if I want to do that yet.
> 
> ANYWAYS!
> 
> Word count: 1590
> 
> Warnings: Blood, Death, swearing (basically just..one time I think), crying, close to vomiting, pain, seriously there’s one death in there that is…I flinched while writing it okay? Okay. 
> 
> IF there are any more warnings, let me know!

There was no scream or pain filled cry, but Virgil did flinch and gasp, gritting his teeth to fight against the pain, as Roman’s voice suddenly stopped booming through the door, the knocking fading, like someone lost motivation and hope, giving up.  
Pain stung Virge once more because the long vine pushed in further again, slowly wrapping itself harder around his heart, keeping a tight grip on it. That triggered a loud scream and heavy tears on the pale skin, dark and drenched in eye shadow.  
A new yell formed itself outside of his room, a heavy thump following as something, probably Roman, crashed against the door, desperate to break it open. Patton and Logan were yelling something as well, most likely keeping Roman from hurting himself by trying to break the door open.

±

 _Something was off all day already. Virgil went to bed early the night before and actually seemed to sleep for quite some time. The first few times Patton or Roman passed the door to his room, it was quiet, so that had to be something good, right? No nightmares, no horrors. Just a peaceful, tired Virgil getting the rest he deserves._  
  
But that feeling didn’t last forever. Anxietie’s door gave it away, looking darker than usually and a thick vine blocking it. First Roman tried to cut through it and to destroy it with his sword, but it withstood every try to do so. Then, there was a scream coming from inside of the room.  
Roman was convinced that Virgil was still asleep, but had to wake up.  
So he began banging his fists on the door, yelling for Virgil to wake up. Startled by the noise, Patton and Logan joined him upstairs and asked about what was going on, before they saw the vine.  
  
The moment the vine suddenly crumbled and disappeared, they tried even harder to open the, still locked, door. Hollering and trying to reach Virgil. There had to be a way to get it open! Something, just something had to be done!  
  
And he, Roman, began to give up, his voice fading as he scratched over the wood of the door. Maybe it was already too late. Most likely, yes. That had to be it. It was too late and there was nothing they could do anymore.

_But then, another scream, more awake and full, hit their ears and Roman got up again._

±

Virgil shook his head, his heavy breath slowing down again, until the door finally gave in, shattered into millions of pieces, every vine except for the one holding onto Virgil’s heart gone, ribbons still tugging but falling apart. It was a horrible sight.  
If this would have been a Disney movie, it would have looks majestic, almost astonishing. But it wasn’t like this at all. Blood ran through Virgil’s part lips and down to his chin in a thin line. The open wound with the vine stuck in it made it look even more painful.   
Roman wanted to step in, sword drawn and ready to fight,  _I can’t let that happen again_ , but something stopped him. It felt like a wall where the door had broken down, keeping him from entering the room.  _No, no, no! Why isn’t it obeying?!_  Behind him, Patton’s head popped up, face filled with worry and already wet with tears.

“Roman what are you doing?!”  
Patton’s voice was hysteric, almost like a screech, as he pushed Roman to the side and stepped into the room without anything keeping him out of there. A bad feeling rushed through Logan, but it was too late. Even if he wanted to pull Patton out now, it wouldn’t have worked out. And something told him that it would be stupid to do so.  
“Virgil, kiddo everything will be okay! I’m here, I’m here for you now, honey. It’s okay! You’ll be fine-”  
  
Voice filled with doubt and breaking he quickly stepped closer but stumbled and fell, glasses crashing against the ground, a newer, tinier vine wrapped around his ankle before he got thrown up against the ceiling, then back out of the room. Logan instantly rushed over to him, checking on him.  
Patton didn’t speak. He didn’t breathe. And his neck was twisted in an horrible angle.  
Meanwhile, Roman kept trying to get into the room, yelling about how no one deserved this, how no one should get tortured in such a way. How Virgil deserved to be rescued.  
Obvious tears were in Logan’s eyes, fighting with his stomach, while he stepped next to Roman, putting a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head. They wouldn’t be able to safe him like this. But that didn’t mean that they shouldn’t try to find different ways.  
The vine kept tugging and pulling, stopping in between and not moving from time to time, before going crazy again. Virgil felt like his heart was constantly about to burst or to get ripped out, parts of his broken ribs pushing into his sides and slowly into his lung, more and more with each movement. At that point he couldn’t scream anymore, it sounded more like a high pitched, breathless squeal. One of his arms slowly raised, trying to reach out with one hand, eyes begging for someone, anyone, to help him, to get him out of this horrible situation, before it was over. He saw how desperate Roman and Logan looked, a glimpse of Patton’s limp body. And then he thought:”What’s the point?”  
What grand work did he do? He hurt them, constantly. Destroyed their life. So, if he would just give in and die, then that would be pain for them too, yes, but in the end it would turn into ashes in the wind, a breeze washing the pain away. And then, then he would never have to hurt them again. They all loved each other, so much. So him hurting them wasn’t fair, was it?

The moment Lo tried to step in, even though he knew it was the most stupid idea he could go for at that moment, Roman had to watch in horror as the vine on the ground suddenly began to grow bigger, before rushing towards Logan with an incredible speed, pushing right through his head and face, pining him on the wall in the hallway, right above Patton. It pulled back, covered in Logan’s blood, his destroyed glasses falling to the ground, his body following shortly after as blood spilled which dripped onto Patton’s body.  
The Prince couldn’t take it, turning to the side and holding his tummy, coughing a few times while he covered his mouth. But nothing came.  _Why, why me? Why can’t I let go of my horrors and those demons who follow me!?  
_ Tears covered his face as he fell to his knees and looked back into the room, watching as Virgil closed his eyes.

“No- NO! Don’t! Virgil please don’t! Don’t give in, we can do that! I can help you! And then we can- we can get Patton and Logan back again! Please!”  
There was a low rumble running through the whole house, shaking everyone and everything in it.  
“Please, Virgil!”

Begging and filled with desperation, Roman’s voice cracked, new tears spilling. Virgil opened his eyes again, looking almost completely lifeless.  
A soft smile ran over his face one last time as he shook his head, whispering something that Roman couldn’t make out.

The vine pulled one last time, harder than ever before, as the ribbons broke completely, not able to regenerate. Wrapped inside of it was Virgil’s heart. Dark, beating, spilling blood. And then, it got crushed and Roman felt like his own heart got destroyed as well, scattered inside of his chest. Desperate to stop hurting.  
It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair for anyone. No one deserved this. No one.  
Why did this happen? Why again? Why couldn’t he stop it from happening?  
All that Roman wanted was for it to be over. To restart.

And he did, being back in the commons on the couch, Patton, Logan and Virgil cuddled up next to him and looking like nothing ever happened at all. But Roman knew it would just happen and end like the last time again. A vicious circle of death. The only question was, who would be the first one this round?

±

“Is he going to wake up again at some point?”  
  
“I don’t know, Lo. He was crying and screaming again.”  
  
“Virgil, is that why-”  
  
“Pat. Just, don’t. No more questions. Okay? I warned him. I told him falling asleep in my room when he’s too stressed out could lead to him getting stuck in a nightmare. He didn’t listen. I seriously don’t know how far it goes, how much he dreams, what he dreams. Might even lead to some inception shit with dreams inside of dreams and dreaming from another persons perspective. I can’t tell, I got no clue. Could even be that he’s fully aware of what is going on but can’t get out, you know? Kinda…lucid dreaming. Just filled with horrors.”

“But will he be okay? Is he going to-”  
  
“I’m sure he’s going to be fine, Patton.”  
  
“You two just let me try to figure out how I can fix this, before Thomas looses all of his motivation and creativity or gets hurt or anything, okay? I’m the cause, so I can be the solution as well.”  
  
“But it’s not your-”  
  
Patton got pushed out of the room, the door closing in on his face.


End file.
